You Kee Crystal Char Siew & XO Duck (有记XO烧腊之家) - Best Char Siew Ever! @ Johor Bahru [Malaysia]

The Gang of Four's unwavering loyalty towards Kay Lee char siew is well known. Hence, imagine the skepticism we voiced out when we heard of a restaurant right across the causeway that supposedly served EVEN BETTER ones. 

A cab would be the easiest mode of transport to get there since we were unfamiliar with the roads in Malaysia and it took us a while to finally have Restoran You Kee right in front of us! Please be assured that i would be sharing the actual location at the end of this post. 

With shophouses being the norm for commercial enterprises in Malaysia, it can be directionally challenging for foreigners like us, especially when signboards may not be very visible at certain angles. For You Kee, you just have to keep in mind of two gigantic earthen urns which shall be the visual mark that you have arrived at the right restaurant. 

I have to declare first; this isn't the original store at Skudai but it is at least the nearest from the causeway. If i recollected correctly, the time we took from the checkpoint to reach the restaurant was roughly twenty minutes. 

Without further ado, let's now evaluate how true our source is. 

Soup of the Day

Remember the urns i mentioned earlier? Both of them housed little pots of soup that were apparently quite popular with diners. I am not so much a soup person but Mrs Kon is; therefore, a bowl of soup would always appear on our table!

For that day, the soup was 霸王花 with a type of mountain flower (nightblooming cereus) being the main ingredient. Honestly, i found it similar to a herbal soup that mom frequently brewed for the family except that it was more oily with a very bland taste. Not my cup of tea. 

Honey Sausage (港式烧肠)

XO Duck Drumstick (XO烧鸭腿)

BBQ Crystal Char Siew (水晶叉烧)

Roast Pork Belly (傳統燒肉)

We ordered a small portion for each of the above and everything was beautifully displayed onto one plate. Should you be unfamiliar with roasted delights, the placing is from left to right starting from Honey Sausage.

We shall touch on char siew later; the honey sausage was quite good even though i could not help thinking it was simply a better version of the sweetened Taiwanese sausage while the roast pork was unspectacular.

XO duck drumstick had a very thin layer of fats and the tougher meat texture typical of duck was surprisingly soft in this instance. However, i could hardly taste any trace of cognac in the meat. 

Now, the main star for the day and actually, the sole purpose why we decided to travel all the way up to Malaysia; the crystal char siew. Appearance wise, the serving definitely did manage to whet our appetite. 

Taste wise, it was ##^%&$#amazing!!!! No doubt this Kay Lee's top position has been unseated! I am baffled at how this could turn out to be so tender with bursts of yummy juiciness that proved to be so addictive yet, it didn't come with excessive oiliness that often make one super duper sick after a while. Unlike Kay Lee's char siew, the charredness was also at an optimal level where i didn't have to consider the potential risk of breaking my teeth! 

Pipa Duck (琵琶鸭)

The char siew was so god damn delicious; we had to ask for another serving. A medium one if you must know. Although there were only three of us, we also ordered a small serving of pipa duck, another signature dish of the restaurant. 

Frankly, i thought this was nicer than the XO duck, for which the eatery was most famous for. A bit of bias personally as i have always preferred deep fried items and the saccharine sauce in this case, went very well with the crispy, savoury texture. 

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Location

83-83A, Jalan Dedap 7,

Taman Johor Jaya, 

81100 Johor Bahru,

Malaysia

Contact 

016-772-8807

Directions & Map

It's very close to the popular departmental store known as The Store. Aeon Tebrau City shopping centre (i think it used to be called Jusco) was right across the highway. 

Map as above which might give you a clearer picture. Getting a cab to go back can mean a long, long wait; please check with the cashier at You Kee if it is possible for him / her to help call a cab instead. 

Other Branches

As above. 

Menu

Prices were surprisingly not as exorbitant as we expected! The next time i visit, i must try their suckling pig!! 

Pricing

Soup of the Day (S) - RM 15.00

Honey Sausage (S) - RM 8.00

XO Duck Drumstick - RM 8.50

BBQ Crystal Char Siew (S) - RM 8.00

Roast Pork Belly (S) - RM 7.00

Pi-Pa Duck (S) - RM 11.00

[No other applicable tax]

Additional Information

As all Chinese are aware, Chinese New Year is coming and there are festive goodies you can buy! We didn't purchase any as we were too full and didn't want to sample any more stuff! 

You may also consider the above offer, especially if you have the habit of paying homage to the gods with auspicious offerings for the lunar new year. 

Fireworks Show (Lake Hollywood Spectacular) @ Universal Studios Singapore [USS]

My annual pass for Universal Studios Singapore has finally expired and i can confidently declare i have definitely made full use of it over the past one year!

I attempted and succeeded in catching the Hollywood Dreams Parade and the Lake Hollywood Spectacular in my last two visits; both of which i had never caught before then. For annual pass holders, do pay the theme park a visit at night.

The crowd was thinner and the atmosphere was vastly different from the daytime festive vibe. For me, i felt that the theme park had been magically covered with an aura of mysticism that distinctly set each zone apart! 

Lake Hollywood Spectacular takes place at the center lake of Universal Studios and despite the light drizzle, we arrived earlier to take an okay spot near King Julien's Beach Party-Go-Round. 

Personally, i love the view right across me where three different zones contrasted widely with one another. 

Start of the pyrotechnics show! For your information, Lake Hollywood Spectacular happens on Saturdays and some holidays although the management reserves the right to cancel it in bad weather (rain, thunderstorm etc). 

The magnitude and creativity of the fireworks cannot be compared to what i have seen on Singapore's independence day (just to quote an example) yet it was still quite fascinating for a person who enjoys seeing displays of expansive sparklers in the sky. 

And this is a costly weekly expenditure! 

Kids would love the colourful show for sure! Just make sure to cover their ears as the sound, though therapeutic to some, could be deafening for those with delicate ear drums.

After of roughly five minutes, the show ended. Duration was truthfully too short but in my opinion, it's better than having nothing at all. At least i have 'earned back' the S$188 i paid a year ago.

This is a bit late for publication; oh well, better late than never. :P 

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Location

Universal Studios Singapore

Schedule

Saturdays and some holidays

San Low Fried Bee Hoon from San Low Seafood Restaurant (三楼海鲜园) @ Johor Bahru [Near Plaza Pelangi]

From the moment i got to know the great Kon and his deep, insatiable affection for anything that is edible, there was one dish he frequently mentioned with passion; San Low Bee Hoon! 

It took a while (our friendship is coming to almost ten years) but i am pleased to announce that we finally managed to pay the original restaurant that invented this special bee hoon a visit recently.

The place was non-air-conditioned, which wasn't a big problem given the nice cooling weather in January and the existence of so many fans (wall and ceiling)!  

Deep Fried Baby Squids

Not on the menu, these weren't the typical black coloured baby squids that often tasted too sweet, too hard. This rendition was WYSIWYG which was similar in taste to the deep fried sotong heads / wings found in Old Chang Kee, albeit with a crunchier texture. 

Fu-Yong Egg

As an omelette, i thought this was better than average. However, for an authentic furong egg, this didn't feature the wok-hei flavour that set it apart from the rest! A major disappointment as i was so looking forward to having it. 

Wild Boar Meat

New to wild boar meat? I would strongly recommend that you give the boar meat in San Low a try. Thanks to the great marination and thick, flavourful sauce, there was none of that muddy, gamey taste and the meat was so soft, so tender and so so juicy! Eat it while it is hot!!!

San Low Fried Bee Hoon

Dried looking with a slightly charred surface that didn't appear at all appetising, i could not quite understand why Kon was making such a great deal about it! 

Boy was i caught by surprise when i put a scoopful into my mouth! The delicious aroma of hearty wok hei totally overwhelmed my taste buds; i have never had bee hoon that was so distinctive and yummy!

Kon commented that the taste was a bit lacking (even though it has exceeded the expectations of first timers like us) and could not resist asking the guy who drove us to the checkpoint why it was so; the guy was not surprised by what we said and his wise advice was to order the XL serving as this would require the main chef to do the cooking! So do take note! 

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Location

Jalan Biru off Jalan Merah, 

Taman Pelangi 80400,

Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Opening Hours

4.30pm to 1.00am

Contact

07-3323869 / 07-3343623

Map

As above

Price

Deep Fried Baby Squids (S) - RM 12

Fu-Yong Egg (S) - RM 6

Wild Boar Meat (M) - RM 16

San Low Fried Bee Hoon (L) - RM 12

[Subject to Government Tax]

Additional Information

For non drivers, going to the restaurant via a cab from the checkpoint of major shopping centres is easy. It's the going back part that often makes one extremely frustrated! Fret not, just ask the cashier and he / she would easily get you a private transport that cost only RM 10 one way!